Even in John Harbaugh’s first five seasons that included a Super Bowl title, three AFC championship game appearances, and at least one playoff victory each year, a 21-19 road mark in the regular season was solid but hardly sensational. However, an 8-16 record away from M&T Bank Stadium over the last three seasons is a clear reflection of a team having only made the playoffs once over that stretch.

After their Week 1 victory against Buffalo, the Ravens take their show on the road for the first time in 2016 against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon.

It’s time to go on the record as Baltimore seeks its eighth win in the last nine trips to Cleveland. The Ravens lead the all-time regular-season series with a 25-9 mark and are 12-5 at FirstEnergy Stadium dating back to the year it opened in 1999. The teams split a pair of games in 2015, but the Ravens have won 14 of the 16 games played in the series during the Harbaugh era.

1. The defensive line will pay tribute to the late Clarence Brooks by holding Cleveland to under 3.0 yards per carry. Coming off a 2015 season in which they rushed for an average 4.0 yards per attempt, Cleveland averaged 5.7 yards per rush against Philadelphia, snapping off four runs of 16 yards or more. That said, Brandon Williams and the Ravens front were stout against Buffalo in giving up only 2.7 yards per carry and will surely want to honor the memory of their longtime defensive line coach, who died Saturday. Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson will find little room throughout the afternoon.

2. An ineffective pass rush will lead to a long touchdown pass to Browns receiver Corey Coleman. The defense will be without Elvis Dumervil and possibly Za’Darius Smith, once again leaving defensive coordinator Dean Pees little choice but to blitz to generate pressure. It won’t be easy for a rusty Terrell Suggs going up against nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas, either. The Ravens know they must disrupt Josh McCown in the pocket after he threw for over 450 yards in a game against them last year, but he’ll get too much time at some point and the speedy Coleman will shake free for a big score.

3. The Baltimore running game still won’t click fully, but Terrance West will lead in rushing against his old team. West received more carries than veteran starter Justin Forsett in the opener, but the former found little running room, averaging only 2.7 yards per pop. With a one-possession lead in the second half, offensive coordinator Marc Trestman will lean on West to wear down an inexperienced Cleveland front. The average still won’t be where the Ravens want it, but West will run for 65 yards to help protect the lead with Forsett chipping in 50 of his own against the Browns.

4. Dennis Pitta will catch his first touchdown in 33 months. The veteran tight end downplayed his return to the place where he sustained his second hip fracture and dislocation two years ago, but there wouldn’t be a more appropriate place for him to make his first touchdown reception since Dec. 8, 2013. After surprisingly playing 82 percent of the offensive snaps against Buffalo while making a key 27-yard reception, Pitta will build on that solid performance with a red-zone score. Concern about his health will remain in observers’ minds, but you have to be happy for the 31-year-old in his comeback.

5. Joe Flacco will play how he usually does against the Browns in a 23-13 victory. In 15 career games against Cleveland, the 31-year-old has completed 61.3 percent of his passes for 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions while averaging roughly 215 passing yards per game. Trestman won’t ask Flacco to take many chances in this road game, but the quarterback will be efficient while, most importantly, protecting the football. Some will complain about another grind-it-out performance lacking style points, but the Ravens will happily leave Cleveland holding their first 2-0 start since 2009.

Following every Baltimore Ravens game this season, Ryan Chell and I will take to the airwaves Tuesdays on “The Reality Check” on AM1570 WNST.net with a segment known as “The Five Plays That Determined The Game.”

It’s a simple concept. We’ll select five plays from each game that determined the outcome. These five plays will best represent why the Ravens won or lost each game.

This will be our final analysis of the previous game before switching gears towards the next game on the schedule.

Here are the five plays that determined the Ravens’ 24-18 loss to the Cleveland Browns Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium…

(Note: not all pictures are always of actual play)

Glenn Clark’s Plays…

5. Jason Campbell 12 yard run on 3rd & 3 (4th quarter)

The first good opportunity the Ravens had to end the Browns’ final drive.

After Baltimore Ravens victories, Ryan Chell and I award players who made positive contributions with “Pats on the Ass” during the Creative Deck Designs Postgame Show on AM1570 WNST.net.

The Ravens fell to the Cleveland Browns 24-18 Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium, meaning there were no Pats to be awarded.

So instead of offering “Pats on the Ass”, Ryan and I offered “Slaps to the Head” postgame. A slap on the side of the head from a coach tends to come along with them saying something along the lines of “you’ve gotta do better than that.”

Same rules as there were with Pats. Two offensive players, two defensive players, and a Wild Card (Special Teams player, coach, or another Offensive or Defensive player). One player gets “two slaps” (or a slap on both sides of the head), it’s the opposite of a “Player of the Game” honor.” Ryan and I select five different players/coaches after each game.

Hoping to get the post-bye portion of their schedule off on a positive note, the Ravens travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns for the 30th time in franchise history.

Baltimore hopes to improve upon a disappointing 3-4 start while debuting a new look on the offensive line following Friday’s news that left guard Kelechi Osemele is expected to miss the rest of the season with a back injury. Backup center A.Q. Shipley will start in his place and receive the first opportunity to hold down the job with the likes of Jah Reid and Ryan Jensen potentially in the mix moving forward.

Reid is active for only his second game this season and for the first time since Week 3 and will serve as the primary backup guard while the rookie Jensen is inactive for Sunday’s game.

Reserve defensive tackle Terrence Cody is also active for the first time since injuring his knee in Week 3 against the Houston Texans. His return along with the emergence of rookie Brandon Williams prompted the Ravens to part ways with veteran Marcus Spears earlier this week.

Linebacker Josh Bynes is active after he missed his first game of the season in Pittsburgh two weeks ago due to undergoing finger surgery, but he will mostly serve on special teams as veteran Jameel McClain regained his starting job at weakside inside linebacker in Week 7.

After being listed as questionable and practicing on a limited basis all week, veteran wide receiver Brandon Stokley is inactive for the third straight game as he continues to manage a groin injury he’s dealt with since the end of September.

Newly-signed No.3 running back Bernard Scott is listed as inactive as he’s still in the process of getting acclimated to the Baltimore offensive system.

The Ravens will be meeting a Browns offense looking different from the group we saw in Baltimore in Week 2 as veteran Jason Campbell will receive his second straight start behind center and big-play wide receiver Josh Gordon is available after serving a two-game suspension to begin the 2013 season. The Browns also feature former Raven Willis McGahee at running back, but, much like the Ravens, Cleveland has been unable to get its running game going all season.

Campbell will be making his second career start against the Ravens and replaced Brandon Weeden in the fourth quarter of the Baltimore’s Week 2 win over Cleveland. That lone start came in 2008 when Campbell threw for 218 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions in a 24-10 win for Baltimore in a win over Washington.

Baltimore will be trying to extend its winning streak to 12 straight over the Cleveland Browns while also improving to 6-0 coming off the bye week in the John Harbaugh era. The Ravens are 10-4 all-time in Cleveland and lead the regular-season series by a 22-7 margin since 1999.

The Ravens will be wearing white jerseys with black pants while Cleveland dons brown jerseys with white pants on Sunday afternoon.

Scott Green will be the referee for Sunday’s game in Cleveland. Forecasts are calling for mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-40s and winds up to nine miles per hour.

The Ravens haven’t lost to the Cleveland Browns since the George W. Bush administration and will try to continue that trend at FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday in the 30th all-time meeting between these teams.

In dumping veterans Bryant McKinnie, Marcus Spears, and Michael Huff, coach John Harbaugh hopes his team will respond positively after an underwhelming 3-4 start that’s put the Ravens below the .500 mark this late in a season for the first time since 2007. Baltimore is 5-0 coming off its bye week in the Harbaugh era and plays Cleveland following an off-week for the second straight season.

Losers of three straight, the Browns look much different offensively as veteran Jason Campbell is now the starting quarterback and former Raven Willis McGahee has replaced 2012 first-round pick Trent Richardson, who was traded to Indianapolis after Cleveland’s Week 2 loss to the Ravens. Unlike that game in Baltimore, explosive wide receiver Josh Gordon will be available to challenge the Ravens secondary and has caught 32 passes for 582 yards and three touchdowns in six games this season.

It’s time to go on the record as the Ravens lead the all-time series by an overwhelming 22-7 margin and are 10-4 in Cleveland. Despite Baltimore’s current 11-game winning streak over the Browns, three of the last four contests have been decided by eight points or less.

Here’s what to expect as the Ravens try to climb back to the .500 mark and improve their all-time record coming off a bye week to 13-5 …

1. A new and undersized left guard isn’t going to help jump-start the Ravens running game after the bye. It’s true that Kelechi Osemele wasn’t playing at a high level, but news of him likely undergoing season-ending back surgery is bad for the rest of the season. A.Q. Shipley is giving up four inches and over 20 pounds compared to Osemele, leaving the Ravens undersized at both center and left guard. There have been whispers of Juan Castillo’s influence waning and Andy Moeller being given a bigger voice in coaching the offensive line, so it will be interesting to see how the unit looks against one of the league’s better defenses. Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce appear to be healthy, but Browns nose tackle Phil Taylor will be a handful for the interior line and the front seven will keep the Ravens under 85 rushing yards for the sixth time in eight games this year.

2. With more responsibility on Joe Flacco’s shoulders, the quarterback will throw for two touchdowns and go over 275 yards. The increased use of the no-huddle offense and three wide receivers in Pittsburgh was likely a preview of what we’ll see more frequently in the second half of the year as the Ravens can’t count on the running game to suddenly make drastic improvements after averaging a league-worst 2.8 yards per carry. The bye week allowed offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell to devise creative ways to get the ball to Torrey Smith while also utilizing the skills of Jacoby Jones, Tandon Doss, and Marlon Brown. Cleveland has struggled lately against the pass and the Ravens need Flacco to step up his performance in the second half despite several factors working against him. He’ll come through with solid but unspectacular pass protection in front of him.

3. Browns tight end Jordan Cameron will catch a touchdown pass to follow up a strong performance against the Ravens in Week 2. Baltimore didn’t have to face Gordon in Week 2 and will need to watch him closely as a deep threat, but Cameron is the more dangerous target in the red zone and had 95 receiving yards against the Ravens earlier this season. The 6-foot-5 receiver will be a difficult matchup regardless of whether a linebacker or a safety attempts to cover him, and I expect defensive coordinator Dean Pees to throw as many different coverage looks as he can at Campbell. The Browns haven’t been able to run the football all season and that won’t change on Sunday, putting the ball in Campbell’s hands and the veteran will lean on his stud tight end for much of the afternoon.

4. With Terrell Suggs locked up with Pro Bowl tackle Joe Thomas all day, Elvis Dumervil will star for the Ravens’ pass rush with two sacks. In Week 2, Suggs had a strong performance against Thomas, but he won’t have as much success this time around. However, Dumervil will draw frequent matchups against right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who isn’t nearly as accomplished and struggled throughout the Week 2 game. The Browns have given up 28 sacks this season while the Ravens have collected 25 in seven games. The Baltimore defense hasn’t been very dynamic in terms of creating turnovers and setting the offense up on a short field, but it has pressured quarterbacks throughout the season. Campbell was impressive in throwing for 293 yards and two touchdowns against a very tough Kansas City defense in a losing effort last week, but lighting won’t strike twice.

5. Superior efficiency in the red zone will be the difference as the Ravens find a way to win their 12th straight over Cleveland in a 20-16 final. Much like the last handful of games between these teams, scoring opportunities will be at a premium as both offenses have faced their challenges all season. The defenses are the main strengths of each team, but the Ravens rank first in red-zone defense (allowing touchdowns on 26.3 percent of red-zone trips) while the Browns rank only 30th (65.2 percent). In a close, low-scoring game that could come down to the final possession or two, the Ravens will make the big play they need while Cleveland will come up short as they have so many times in the Harbaugh era despite Baltimore appearing as vulnerable as ever for a loss to the AFC North foe on Sunday.